US President Donald Trump said Monday he would go to Saudi Arabia again, perhaps on his first foreign trip, but only if the price was right.
On his first day back at the White House, where he signed more than 100 executive orders, Trump was asked about his 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia, which broke with American tradition.
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he went to Saudi Arabia because the Saudi government had agreed to buy hundreds of billions of dollars in American goods.
“The last time we did that with Saudi Arabia was because Saudi Arabia agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our products. I said we would do it, but we have to buy American products. And they will too. I agreed to that,” he added. If the kingdom agrees to buy more, I’ll go there again.
“Well, I don’t know. If Saudi Arabia wants to buy another 450 or 500, they’ll raise the price to match inflation. I think that’s where they’ll probably go.”
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The 2017 trip resulted in a famous photo of Trump clutching a spooky glowing orb alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
It is unclear whether President Trump meant what he said. But the comments underscore President Trump’s approach to policy by prioritizing U.S. trade and the U.S. economy above all other issues.
Under former President Joe Biden, relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia soured due to Biden’s criticism of the killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Although the Biden administration attempted to mend relations between the two countries in the second half of its term, it did not appear that relations had fully warmed up.
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Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States have been friendlier under the Trump administration, with Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner having a personal friendship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. was.
That friendship was on display during Mr. Khashoggi’s murder at the hands of Saudi agents. Because Khashoggi was a U.S. resident, his killing shocked Washington and prompted calls for President Trump to condemn his killing.
The former Trump administration never changed its relationship with Riyadh despite outrage over Khashoggi’s killing, blocking bipartisan congressional action aimed at ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Prior to his inauguration, the Trump Organization also signed a branding agreement for a luxury tower real estate project in Saudi Arabia, another sign of the Trump Organization’s deepening relationship with Dar Global’s parent company, Dar Al-Arkan. A real estate developer working on a tower project.
After Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, he appeared multiple times with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund who is also the current chairman of New LIV Golf Promotions.
